Joshua 10:12-14 Continued: The Scriptures Clarify Themselves
Joshua 10:12-14 Continued: The Scriptures Clarify Themselves
Another question from Joshua 10: How was his prayer answered?
Jeremiah 31:35-36 “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night… If this fixed order departs from before me, … then shall the offspring of Israel cease.”
Jeremiah 33:20-21 “Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken.”
Psalm 89:36-37 “[David’s] offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.”
Do these verses not prove that the request Joshua made of the LORD – an extension daylight so that the battle could be brought to a successful end – was recorded in the Book of the Upright with poetic license? (The Book of the Upright contained many occurrences in the history of Israel in poetic form).
The request was worded as follows: “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Ajjalon.” And the answer was recorded in this way: “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped.”
As an aside, I would like to mention the ninth plague. It consisted of three days of deep darkness so that Israel would be allowed to leave. Suppose the Book of the Upright was already in use. It could have recorded the occurrence in prose – “the sun hid behind Egypt’s horizon for three days; but it shone brightly on Israel” – despite the fact that this punishment did not in any way involve the sun.
And then there is also the following: Isaiah 45 starts with a command to Cyrus. God calls upon him to enable His people to return to their own land. In doing so, Cyrus will have to deal with all sorts of conflict, but the LORD encourages him: “I will go before you and level the exalted places … I equip you, though you do not know me… I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness.” (This passage of Scripture must bring to mind the incidents in which the LORD gave light to Joshua and brought darkness on Egypt).
God would never have promised to Cyrus that He would make the sun and the moon stand still if that were necessary for battle!! After all, He would never break his covenant with the sun and the moon!
Back to Joshua 10.
The indisputable darkness in Egypt occurred without involvement of the sun and the moon. Which leads to the question I would like to ask theologians: May it not be assumed that Joshua’s prayer for daylight was answered without any contribution by the sun and the moon? And that God gave light for as long as it was necessary, exactly there where the battle had to be fought?
We won’t allow poetic license to disconcert us, will we?
In addition, Eskimos and Indians would not have had to experience the shock of their lives...
If, as Bible-believers, could adopt the aforementioned conclusion, scientists would no longer have to busy themselves with the enormous consequences on the vast universe had the LORD caused the sun and the moon to stand still.